Party-line vote for higher ed budget in Senate

The Senate has voted 28-7 in favor of SB 1181, the higher education budget for next year, which calls for further cuts on top of those that have hit the state’s colleges and universities for the past three years. It was a party-line vote, with the Democrats voting against, and the Republicans in favor.

Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, told the Senate, “Please understand while this may not be the budget you want to vote for, it is the best we can do given the situation we have, given the revenue stream that is projected.” Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, said, “I think we all recognize that we are in difficult times.” He lauded the state’s colleges and universities for “doing more with less.”

Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, said, since 2009, colleges and universities have been cut by $75 million in state funds, a 26.4 percent reduction. “It is the budget that has taken the biggest hit of any budget that we pass, and this is our economic development engine that we are starving for resources.” Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, who supported the bill, noted that while state general funds for universities would be cut again, a small increase in total funds is anticipated in the budget for next year due to a jump in dedicated funds; that additional money, however, largely is from increased tuition paid by the fast-growing student population.